


Kiss the Cook

by Mikauzoran



Series: Productive Procrastination Prompt Giveaway [12]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Adrino, Aged-Up (20), Cooking, Cooking Lessons, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Love Confessions, Platonic Adrino, Post-Hawk Moth Defeat, Post-Reveal Pre-Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, adrienette - Freeform, romantic dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27660772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikauzoran/pseuds/Mikauzoran
Summary: Nino teaches Adrien to cook, and Adrien uses his newfound powers to make a romantic dinner for Marinette in order to confess his feelings again to find out where they stand with one another now that their identities are no longer secret.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Productive Procrastination Prompt Giveaway [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922590
Comments: 30
Kudos: 203





	Kiss the Cook

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! I'm Mikau, and it's a pleasure to have you. Thank you so much for giving this story a read. I hope you enjoy it. ^.^
> 
> This story came about when, back in September, I was procrastinating on writing Chapter Thirty-Eight of Serendipity, so I asked on Tumblr for people to send me prompts. I completed the first ten I received and then went back to working on Serendipity. That accomplished, I'm finishing the handful of overflow prompts I received after the cutoff. This is the second of the overflow prompts. It's from an anon. (Thank you for inadvertently inspiring this! XD)
> 
> Prompt: The original prompt was Nino teaching Adrien to do something sexual, and there was a little aubergine (🍆) at the end. Out of that, I somehow got "Nino teaches Adrien to cook", so here we are. (The aubergine makes an appearance as eggplant parmesan. ^.^)
> 
> Enjoy!

“Okay. I thought we should start easy,” Nino announced as he finished setting the last of the ingredients down onto the island in the center of Adrien’s kitchen.

Adrien surveyed the cherry tomatoes, red onion, red pepper, parsley, and mint uneasily, not sure what to make of them. He then picked up an English cucumber and frowned at it, sizing it up. “Oookaaay. What exactly are we making?”

“[Israeli salad](https://www.eatingbirdfood.com/israeli-salad/),” Nino informed, going over to the knife block in the corner, full of expensive implements that had clearly never seen battle. He chose his weapons and gingerly brought them back over to Adrien. “You’ll love it. It’s super easy and perfect for you crazy people who have been brainwashed into thinking you enjoy eating rabbit food. All you have to do is chop up the ingredients and mix them together in a bowl.”

Adrien stared down at the knife Nino was trying to hand him with none too little trepidation. “I…don’t know how to chop vegetables,” he slowly admitted.

Nino blinked at his best friend.

At first, he wondered if Adrien was joking and if he should laugh at the joke, but Adrien didn’t laugh. Adrien just shifted his weight from foot to foot uncomfortably, his cheeks beginning to glow watermelon pink under Nino’s analytic gaze.

“But…you, like, _live_ off of salad. You make salad all the time,” Nino reminded as if trying to convince him.

Adrien toed at the tiled floor, not meeting Nino’s eyes. “Salad comes in bags,” he mumbled, tone suffused with shame. “All I have to do is pour it out into a bowl. I don’t cut anything up myself. Those knives are pretty much just for decoration. I only got them because Marinette said that I needed them when she was helping me get everything in order to move out on my own. I don’t know how to _use_ them.”

Nino’s eyes narrowed. “But…Mec, you’ve told me I don’t know how many times about how you and your mom used to make salad together when you were having bad days. Didn’t she show you how to cut up the vegetables.”

Sadly, Adrien shook his head. “We didn’t have to cut anything up. We just took the ingredients out of the bins in the refrigerator that the staff had prepared for us and threw it in a bowl. I have no clue how to cook _anything_ without microwave instructions, Nino,” Adrien confessed, shoulders scrunching up to his ears as he looked like he wanted to disappear.

“Ooooh,” Nino breathed, setting down the knives and resting his hands comfortingly on Adrien’s shoulders. “Hey. No worries, Mec. No big deal.”

“It kind of feels like a big deal,” Adrien grumbled, further folding in on himself. “I’m twenty, and I can’t even use an oven to save my life.”

“Hey,” Nino called again, more firmly. “Adrien, look at me.”

Reluctantly, Adrien did.

“Seriously. It’s all good,” Nino stressed, giving Adrien’s shoulders a bolstering squeeze. “It’s not your fault no one ever taught you how to do this. They were too busy teaching you Mandarin and fencing and how to smile pretty for the camera that they forgot some of the practical things. That’s on them.”

Adrien didn’t look like he believed Nino. His lack of basic survival skills felt pretty much like a personal failing.

Nino could tell he wasn’t getting through. “Hey.” He dropped his hands from Adrien’s shoulders to give his arm a playful punch. “The important thing is that you realized that there was something you didn’t know how to do, you decided you wanted to learn, and you asked for help. That’s _huge_ , Man. Props to you. Now, I’m your friend, and I care about you and want you to succeed, okay?”

Adrien nodded, able to believe that much at least.

“So there’s no judgment here, yeah?” He turned toward the counter and grabbed the cucumber and one of the knives, cutting the cucumber in half. He set one half on the counter in front of himself and placed the rest along with the other knife in front of Adrien.

“You can do this,” Nino encouraged, giving his friend a warm, wide smile. “It won’t be easy at first, but you’ll learn. You’ve learned how to play those crazy piano pieces by [Liszt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Liszt), haven’t you?”

“Yeah,” Adrien tentatively agreed, allowing himself to begin to feel that there might be hope after all.

“Well, learning how to use a knife will take less time and be a heck of a lot easier,” Nino promised. “You’ll be cooking all kinds of fancy stuff in no time. You’ve got this, yeah?”

Slowly, Adrien began to nod. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll get it in no time,” he repeated under his breath.

“That’s the spirit!” Nino cheered, clapping Adrien on the back with his free hand. “Now, let’s get down to business.”

“Okay,” Adrien agreed, a hint of a smile peeking out at the corners of his lips.

First, Nino showed him [how to](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-Fg7l7G1zw) hold the knife properly. There was a little bit of a hitch with the fact that Adrien was left-handed, so it took Nino a second to figure out how to have Adrien position his fingers. Once that was accomplished, things went smoothly.

Nino taught Adrien how to cut the cucumber lengthwise in half and then into quarters before beginning to chop.

“You want to use the middle part of the knife in a kind of rocking, seesaw motion,” Nino explained as he demonstrated, slowly dicing the cucumber.

“Like…this?” Adrien carefully copied the movement on the cutting board first, trying to get it down before he moved on to actually chopping anything.

“Yep! Great job!” Nino praised with a grin. “Just go at your own pace. Make sure you’ve got the form right, and, then, with practice, you’ll be able to go faster.”

Adrien nodded, repeating the rocking motion with the blade. “Okay. I think I’ve got it. May I cut the cucumber now?”

“Sure. Just one thing real quick.” Nino set down his own knife and came up behind Adrien, helping to position his right hand. “You don’t want your fingers sticking out like that. Kind of round them under so that the blade brushes against your knuckles instead of your fingertips. That’ll keep them from being chopped off,” Nino imparted the secret with a wink.

“Oh,” Adrien chuckled in delight at the discovery, tentatively trying it out. “Wow. That’s really smart.”

“Can’t have you losing any fingers,” Nino teased. “Your father would kill me.”

Adrien winced at the mention of his father, and Nino mentally kicked himself.

He rushed to apologize and make things right. “Dude, I’m so sorry. I—”

“—Don’t worry about it,” Adrien cut him off, forcing a smile. “It’s okay. I mean…I have to get over it and move on sometime. I just occasionally forget, and it’s a surprise whenever something reminds me…”

He shook his head, taking a deep inhale. “…He _has_ killed you before, you know?”

Gravely, Nino nodded.

“Sometimes, I forget and I start to think of him as ‘Père’ again,” Adrien laughed self-deprecatingly. “I start to miss him, and I have to remind myself that it’s a _good_ thing that he’s locked up where he can’t hurt my friends or anyone else ever again.”

He looked back down at the cucumber unseeingly. “Sorry. It’s been…a complicated year.”

“It’s okay, Mec,” Nino soothed, gently ghosting his hand up and down Adrien’s back. “You’re good. You’re _more_ than good. You’re doing an amazing job.”

A weak but genuine smile finally found its way to Adrien’s lips. “I’m trying, at least.”

Nino nodded in solidarity. “Trying is a brave thing to do. It’s huge, and I’m really proud of you. We _all_ are.”

“Thanks,” Adrien whispered, spirits lifting. “So…show me how to dice an onion?”

“Sure thing.” Nino happily complied, grabbing the onion in question and mercilessly chopping it in half. “This one’s pretty easy.”

They worked their way through the rest of the ingredients until Adrien felt that he had a reasonable command of basic knife skills…and like his arm was about to fall off.

Several days later, Nino came over to teach Adrien the basics of soup.

“It’s super easy,” he assured. “You can’t screw up soup.”

Adrien arched an eyebrow skeptically. “I’ve been living with the embodiment of destruction for going on seven years. I’m fairly confident in my ability to screw up anything.”

Nino grimaced. “No. Seriously. Not even _you_ can screw up soup. All you have to do is add the ingredients into the pot and make sure it’s all warmed throughout and cooked properly. You’ve already got the cutting stuff up part pretty much down, and that’s the hardest part of cooking. You can handle putting stuff in a pot and turning on the heat.”

“All right,” Adrien sighed, opening his arms out to the sides in an accepting, receptive gesture. “Teach me, Sensei. What kind of soup are we making?”

“[Moroccan Chickpea and Vegetable Stew](https://dinnerthendessert.com/moroccan-chickpea-and-root-vegetable-stew/),” Nino announced, going to the spice rack to start getting out the ingredients.

During their third lesson, as they chopped up vegetables for the [Vegetable Biryani](https://dinnerthendessert.com/easy-vegetable-biryani/), it occurred to Nino to inquire, “Why did you ask _me_ to teach you how to cook, anyway? I mean, I’m honored. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to teach you, but…wouldn’t it make more sense to ask Alya with her mom being a professional chef and everything? Or Marinette since her parents are bakers?”

Adrien gazed down intently at the carrot he was slicing into slender coins. “I mean…yeah, it would probably make more sense to ask Alya if my goal was to get really high-quality lessons, but…”

Adrien bit his lip as he tried to find the best way to phrase it. “…I couldn’t even hold a knife properly before you showed me. Alya’s been cooking since she could stand on a stepstool to reach the counter, so…I was scared of what she would think of me.”

Nino winced in sympathy.

“It was really embarrassing, admitting that I had no idea what I was doing, knowing that most people learn to do some form of cooking when they’re little,” Adrien continued glumly. “I didn’t want her to judge me…and I knew that _you_ wouldn’t.”

Nino nodded in understanding.

“And—no offence to your girlfriend, but—Alya isn’t always the most patient person, so…” Adrien shrugged helplessly. “Plus, I was pretty sure she’d tell Marinette all about our lessons and how bad I was,” he grumbled, making Nino laugh.

“Aha. I see what the real problem was.” Nino clicked his tongue and shook his head. “You were afraid of what _Marinette_ would think.”

Adrien shrugged nonchalantly, even as his cheeks reddened and his shoulders bunched up at his ears in embarrassment. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Can you blame me, though?”

“Nah, Dude,” Nino assured, dropping the playful banter. “You’re good. I would totally die if I looked like an idiot in front of Alya back when we first started dating, so I get it. You like her, and you want her to think you’re cool.”

Adrien nodded, a sheepish smile floating to the surface. “I really, really, really want her to think I’m cool,” he confirmed. “So there was no way I could have her knowing what a lousy cook I am. I mean, what girl wants to marry a guy who can’t cook?”

Nino had to stop chopping up potatoes to face-palm and shake his head. “Mec, you two aren’t even dating and you’re already thinking about marriage?”

A fresh wave of heat surged down Adrien’s neck. “Nino, I’ve been in love with her for almost a decade at this point. I have our children’s names picked out. I _have_ to get her to marry me or else my entire existence is meaningless.”

Nino’s brow furrowed in concern. “Are you just being dramatic, or should I be worried about you?”

“Mostly just being theatrical,” Adrien assured, waving Nino’s apprehension away. “But…I mean…she’s my soulmate. When she told me before that she wasn’t interested and only wanted to be friends, I respected her wishes and backed off the over-the-top romantic gestures, but I never got over her, Nino. I don’t think I _can_ get over her, so…I’m just doing my best to be the kind of person she’d want to be with.”

Suddenly, Adrien put down the knife and groaned, bringing the heels of his palms up to press into his eyes. “Except I’m completely incompetent when it comes to being an adult, and pretty much my entire family is comprised of criminals.”

“Hey,” Nino cooed, setting down his own knife and wiping his hands on his pants as he came over to comfort his best friend. “Don’t think like that.” He rested one hand on Adrien’s upper arm while the other went to his low back. “You’re not completely incompetent, Adrien. You’ve been living on your own for almost a year now, and you’re doing fine. There are some places where you could improve, but you’re working on it. You’re doing a good job, and you’re a smart guy, so you can definitely figure all this out with little nudges in the right direction sometimes.”

“I’m glad at least one of us believes in me,” Adrien grumbled.

“I’m not the only one,” Nino informed. “You’ve got a lot of people cheering you on. Marinette included.”

Slowly, Adrien lowered his hands from his eyes, giving Nino a curious look. “…Really?”

Nino nodded. “Totally. She sees good things in you, Mec. She sees your strengths: your intelligence, your willingness to work hard, your compassion, your resilience. She admires those things about you.”

Adrien narrowed his gaze in suspicion. “You’re not just telling me all this to make me feel better, are you?”

Nino shook his head. “Promise. She adores you, Dude, and she could care less about who your family is and what they’ve done. She cares about who _you_ are as a person…and she’s seriously into you.”

Adrien’s eyes went wide in shock. “Wait. Really?”

Nino nodded solemnly. “Yeah. Don’t tell anyone I told you, but she totally had a ridiculous crush on you when we were younger. She simmered down a bit, but I don’t think she ever stopped liking you. She just feels really weird now that she knows she was turning down Chat Noir you for Adrien you, and she thinks you have a lot going on what with…”

Your father being a domestic terrorist and your family going to jail and you moving out on your own and trying to figure out adulting, remained unsaid but understood.

“Everything,” Adrien graciously supplied.

“Everything,” Nino repeated. “So she hasn’t done anything about her feelings for you since the whole identity reveal thing, but I think she likes you even more now that she knows Chat Noir and Adrien are the same person. I’m telling you, Man. If you took the initiative and made a move, she’d definitely agree to go on a date with you.”

Adrien gaped at Nino in utter incredulity. “Are you serious?”

“Completely serious,” Nino stressed.

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” Adrien whined, tempted to tear out his hair in frustration. “All this time!” he lamented.

“Dude, you were the one in denial about your feelings for Marinette for forever,” Nino snorted softly. “You were always insisting you were in love with some mystery girl you couldn’t tell me anything about. Alya would have killed me if I’d told you about Marinette’s feelings. Worst case scenario, you would have told Marinette you only wanted to be friends and gotten her akumatized. I wasn’t willing to go there, but now that you’re clear on your feelings for Marinette too…”

Adrien groaned. “Why am I such a blind idiot?”

Nino shrugged, going back to the counter to resume chopping potatoes now that he was sure Adrien was going to be okay. “If you want, we could blame it on your hair colour.”

Rolling his eyes, Adrien returned to his carrots, still grumbling.

“So…got any plans for how you want to ask Marinette out?” Nino baited.

Adrien looked up, eyes shining hopefully. “What if I make her a really special dinner? If I get a menu together, could you help me practice making the dishes?”

Nino’s eyes widened in surprise but then a soft, pleased smile spread across his lips, and he nodded, proud at his friend for coming up with a practical yet romantic idea.

“We can certainly do that,” Nino assured.

When Adrien asked Marinette over for dinner and to hang out, she imagined their usual, relaxed Saturday nights of Chinese takeaway, videogames, and anime. She was, therefore, a little taken aback when she arrived to find the lights dimmed slightly, candles lit, soft piano music playing in the background, and a delicious-looking dinner spread out on the counter.

“Did you cook?” Marinette blurted out.

“Well, hello to you too,” Adrien teased, chuckling as he stepped out of the way so that she could enter his apartment.

“Sorry,” she corrected, shaking her head to clear her mind. “Hi…. Did you cook?”

“Don’t sound so incredulous,” Adrien feigned a pout, guiding her into the kitchen. “I know I’ve spent my life as a sheltered rich boy, but I’ve been taking lessons from Nino for about a month now, and I’m getting pretty good, so I hope you’re hungry.”

Marinette gazed curiously at the freshly chopped salad, the minestrone soup, and the eggplant parmesan in its casserole dish just waiting to be devoured. “It certainly _looks_ good…and it smells good too,” she added, taking an appreciative inhale.

She looked back over her shoulder and gave him a dazzling smile. “Thank you for inviting me over to benefit from your newly found talents. …Do you like cooking?”

“Actually, I do,” he replied, going to the cabinet to fetch flatware. “It was pretty challenging at first, but now that I’ve got the basics down, it’s getting easier, and I’m finding that I’m enjoying my forays into the world of cooking. Like, I even made the salad dressing myself just because I could.”

“Wow,” Marinette breathed, obviously impressed. “That’s really neat, Adrien.”

Sheepishly looking down at his hands, he quickly backtracked. “Well, I mean, it’s just a really simple vinaigrette. Nothing I made tonight is super fancy, but…I’ve come a long way from where I started a month ago, so I’m really proud of the progress I’ve made, you know?”

She nodded in understanding, smiling softly with a quiet pride.

Adrien had had a tough year what with the deterioration of his family and the life he’d had before. He’d lost his father, his mother figure, his mental image of who his family members really were, and his home on top of everything. Adrien had always been a strong, optimistic person, but Marinette was honestly amazed by his resilience in the face of everything the past year had thrown at him.

And it was nice to see him able to celebrate the small victories along the way. Learning to cook was a major accomplishment, and she was honored that he was sharing this recent triumph with her.

“You should be proud,” she assured, stepping forward to rest a hand on his forearm, giving it a supportive squeeze.

He looked up, eyes catching on hers, and he began to blush.

“You’re doing a really great job,” she reminded, trying to encourage him.

“Well,” he chuckled uncertainly, rubbing at the back of his neck in his old nervous tick as he advised, “Maybe wait until you taste it before you decide what kind of job I’m doing.”

Dinner was, as expected, incredibly delicious, and they lingered over the meal for almost two hours just talking and enjoying one another’s company.

After they finished the soup, salad, and eggplant parmesan, Adrien brought out the [baba au rhum](https://www.thespruceeats.com/classic-french-rum-baba-recipe-1375132) that he’d made Nino practice with him until Nino declared that he never wanted to taste rum ever again.

Marinette was, frankly, impressed. “Nino must be a great teacher…or _you’re_ a great student. You’ve done a really amazing job, Adrien. Thanks for sharing this with me.”

“You’re very welcome,” Adrien assured, beaming with pride. “I’m really happy that you like it.”

Pleasantly full, Adrien and Marinette retired to Adrien’s couch where they settled in to watch [Tokyo Babylon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Babylon).

Adrien reached out to start the video on his computer but then hesitated.

Marinette arched an eyebrow. “Something wrong?”

He pursed his lips and then sat back on the couch, turning to look at her. “Actually…there’s something I need to talk to you about.” His gaze slipped down to his fidgeting hands in his lap.

“Of course. You can tell me anything,” she assured, turning to give him her full attention.

He bit the inside of his cheek as he gathered his courage. “I need to tell you something, and I feel like I kind of need to explain myself, so I know you’re going to want to jump in and respond right away…” He peeked up at her sheepishly. “…but I kind of need you to let me talk, and then, once I’m done, you can say whatever you need to…or nothing at all. It’s fine, just…if you could let me talk first?”

She nodded emphatically, miming zipping her lips. “Of course. Go ahead, Adrien.”

He took a deep breath and shifted his gaze to the space on the couch between them. “So…I know in the beginning I was very clear about my feelings for you…”

Marinette inhaled sharply in surprise but kept her word and didn’t say anything.

“I know I kind of stopped being so vocal about being in love with you, but that was because I was trying to respect your wishes. You were very clear about liking someone else and only wanting us to be friends, so I tried to tone it down because, more than anything, I just wanted you to be happy, and, even though I desperately wanted more, being your friend, your partner, really was enough,” he stressed, tentatively raising his gaze to meet her wide, apprehensive eyes.

He swallowed before cautiously continuing. “Marinette…just because I stopped saying something about it, that doesn’t mean that my feelings changed.”

She gasped again, hand flying to her mouth to keep in all the words that wanted to come flying out at that revelation.

“In fact,” he chuckled tiredly, the hint of a self-deprecating smile lurking on the edge of his lips. “when I tried to move on and get over you as Ladybug, I only ended up realizing my feelings for Marinette.”

She pressed her palm to her lips harder as her chest filled with warmth and tears of joy beaded in the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over.

“I know I’m a mess,” he sighed, carding a hand through his hair and shaking his head. “I’m not stupid, so I realize that my mental health issues, complete lack of practical adulting skills, and the fact that my father is a psychotic supervillain don’t really make me an attractive romantic prospect despite my fortune and good looks—”

She almost broke her word and interrupted him right then and there to set the record straight, but she had promised him, and he obviously needed to get it all out without disruption, so she physically bit her tongue to remain silent.

“—but I really needed to tell you all this. Not because I expect anything from you or think anything will come of this, but…for _me_. I needed to do this for me so that I know for sure where we stand with one another.”

He looked back up to stress his point. “Whatever you feel or don’t feel for me is fine, My Lady. If you just want to keep being friends, I am more than good with that. I just needed to tell you for my own sanity, to get some closure because…”

He couldn’t help the ironic bark of laughter that bubbled to the surface. “Sorry. I’ve been madly in love with you for almost seven years now, Marinette. The day I found out Ladybug and Marinette were the same person—well, I can’t really say that that was one of the best days of my life because it’s also the day I found out about my mother and Papillon and everything, but…finding out you and Ladybug were the same person was one of the best things to ever happen to me, so I just need you to be straight with me and let me know if your feelings towards me have changed at all.

“I promise whatever you say is fine,” he rushed to reassure. “If you’re still in love with your mystery guy, that’s great. Just…tell me where I stand with you, please.”

There was silence for a beat, and she gave him a questioning look.

“Oh. Sorry.” He winced as he realized what she was waiting for. “ _Thank_ you. I’m done, so you can talk now. Hit me.”

She almost did as she flung herself at him, arms encircling him and crushing him tight to her. She wanted nothing more than to shower him with kisses, but she knew she had to explain herself first.

“Chaton, you have no idea how much I love you,” she laughed giddily, scrambling to organize her words. “For a long time now. Romantically, not just as a friend or a partner. I love you. I…”

She pulled back, arms still loosely around him but with enough space so that she could face him.

“Sorry. I’m just…I don’t know where to begin, but…”

“You _love_ me?” he whispered, clearly shocked and still grasping for comprehension.

She nodded. “Adrien… _you_ were the other boy,” she informed sheepishly, a cherry blossom blush spreading across the bridge of her nose.

His eyes widened. “I… _what_?”

She shrugged helplessly. “I kind of fell in love with Adrien that day we first met on the steps of the school when you told me you’d never had friends before and gave me your umbrella and laughed when it closed up on me.”

She dropped her gaze to the side in embarrassment mixed with a touch of shame. “My feelings weren’t always the healthiest. There was a time when I was a little obsessed with you, but as we got closer as friends and I got to know you better, I found myself falling for you over and over again.”

She looked up to find his eyes damp, his mouth open slightly in amazement.

She gave him a warm smile. “At the same time, I was getting closer to Chat Noir, and the feelings I started to realize I had developed for him kind of scared me with their intensity. When you’d take hits for me during battles, my heart would stop, and I’d think, ‘Oh my God. What if I lose him?’ I realized that I loved Chat Noir too,” she admitted, “but I didn’t think there could be a future for us. With my responsibilities as Guardian and Ladybug and even just plain old Marinette…I thought I had to handle it all by myself and not put others in danger. I thought I had to keep Chat Noir at arms’ length, so I kept my feelings to myself.”

“But…you _did_ love me?” he hesitantly verified, as if afraid she’d take it back.

She took both of his hands in hers and looked him straight in the eye. “Chadrien Agreste-Noir, I present tense _do_ love you,” she stressed, causing the building tears to finally spill down his cheeks.

“I _do_ love you,” she repeated, “and nothing that has happened this past year has changed the way I feel about you one bit. In fact, I think I love you even more now that I’ve seen how strong and brave and resilient and optimistic you are in the face of overwhelming loss and tragedy. I admire you so much, Adrien. I’m so proud of the way you’ve kept fighting despite everything life has thrown at you this year, and nothing and no one can make me think less of you.”

“Oh,” he breathed, completely overcome at hearing her unconditional declaration of love.

It felt like he’d waited his whole life to hear someone tell him they loved him not in spite of but _because_ of the ways he was cracked and broken.

“So…” she segued, thumbs rubbing affectionate circles on the backs of his hands. “Since we both seem to have fallen for both sides of one another and seem to be on the same page now…would you want to be my boyfriend?”

His mouth fell open, nearly grazing the floor. “What?” He blinked at her in disbelief.

She winced. “I mean…if it’s not weird for you, dating the girl who got your father arrested. I—”

“—No,” he rushed to cut her off, correcting, “No, Marinette. It’s not that. I was just floored, honestly. I’ve daydreamed about you asking me out for _years_ , so it was just a little hard to accept that it was actually happening for real this time.”

“Oh,” she chuckled nervously. “Well…good.”

“And it’s my _father’s_ fault he got arrested, not yours,” he stressed, giving her hand a squeeze. “I’m starting to think that it wasn’t even my fault, so…if we can maybe put all that behind us…I’d love to be your boyfriend.”

“Good,” Marinette giggled, face feeling like it was going to split in half, she was smiling so wide.

“Good,” he echoed, inching in experimentally.

“Good,” she whispered, eyes slowly drifting closed as she leaned in.

“Good,” he breathed, the word ghosting over her lips, swallowed as her mouth met his.

The kiss was slow and tentative at first but intensified ever so slightly as the participants gained confidence.

It was a languid, sweet kiss. Nothing spectacular as far as a meeting of mouths was concerned, but special all the same because it was an experience that they were sharing.

Gradually, they drew apart and spent a moment gazing into one another’s eyes, basking in their tiny, private world.

“…I want to take you on a real date,” Adrien finally sighed a minute later.

Marinette broke out in giggles. “Silly. You making me dinner and watching a movie or playing video games together counts as a date.”

“Yeah,” he groaned, a whiney tone to his voice. “but I really want to take you somewhere fancy and make it really romantic. I have seven years’ worth of date plans, Marinette. I’m not even kidding you.”

She tried not to giggle-snort because she knew he was completely serious. Still, it was hard to hold her grin in. “Oh, Adrien…. Okay. Fine. You can take me on romantic dates.”

“Yes!” he cheered, giving a celebratory fist pump.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “But know that you cooking for me is really sexy, so…”

He arched an eyebrow, intrigued. “Oh? Well…that’s some very interesting information.”

“Mmhm,” she hummed coyly. “Better store that away somewhere for later use.”

“Noted,” he promised, settling in beside her on the couch, pulling her in to cuddle. “…Is this okay?”

She threw her legs across his lap and adjusted her arms around his torso, her head coming to rest comfortably on his chest, tucked just under his chin, as if the space as been designed specifically for her.

“There,” she decreed, obviously very satisfied with herself. “Perfect.”

“Perfect,” Adrien agreed, giving her a gently squeeze as he wondered what he had done to deserve this much happiness.

“All right,” she chuckled. “Let’s watch anime, you nerd.”

He couldn’t help but snicker, “ _Your_ nerd.”

“That’s right,” she asserted, tipping her head up to give his neck a loving nuzzle. “Mine.”

“…Mine,” Adrien whispered, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head.

“Yours,” she affirmed, melting back into him.

The

End

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think? I hope you enjoyed the story. It was fun to get the opportunity to write Adrien and Nino hanging out and being bros. I really love their dynamic, the unwavering love, support, and encouragement Nino gives Adrien. What did you think of the way I portrayed their relationship? 
> 
> Did you have a favourite line? A favourite scene? I kind of like Adrien's belief that, since he's been living with Plagg so long, he's gained the ability to screw up anything. ^.^; I also like how, at the end, Marinette just throws her legs across Adrien's lap and is like, "Yes, I live here now. This is my spot. I will not be taking questions". XD I hope you liked it.
> 
> Did you like the Adrienette part? I think things would be kind of awkward after the reveal and Papillon's defeat. I think they would need a while to readjust. I like exploring their post-reveal, pre-relationship dynamic. What did you think?
> 
> A note on translation: "Mec" is French slang for guy/dude/bro/mate. Like, as in, “That mec stole my parking space!” or “Hey, Mec. What’s up?” I don't use "dude" instead of "mec" most of the time because constant use of "dude" sounds really California surfer/stoner to me, and that's not Nino's character in the show at all. Nino typically uses "mec" or "mon/ma pote", so I tend to use those a lot when writing him.
> 
> Did you check out the basic knife skills demo that I linked under "how to"? If not, you should. It's less than ten minutes and really useful if you ever have to cut anything. The link is also in the References section below if you missed it. Also, check out the recipes. I swear they're all delicious. ^.^
> 
> Thank you very much for reading! Take care everyone!
> 
> Come follow me on [Tumblr](https://mikauzoran.tumblr.com/).
> 
> References:  
> Israeli Salad: https://www.eatingbirdfood.com/israeli-salad/  
> Liszt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Liszt  
> Basic Knife Skills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-Fg7l7G1zw  
> Moroccan Chickpea Stew: https://dinnerthendessert.com/moroccan-chickpea-and-root-vegetable-stew/  
> Vegetable Biryani: https://dinnerthendessert.com/easy-vegetable-biryani/  
> Baba au Rhum: https://www.thespruceeats.com/classic-french-rum-baba-recipe-1375132  
> Tokyo Babylon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Babylon


End file.
